One billion plastic notes of Rs 10 denomination later this year

One billion plastic notes of Rs 10 denomination will be introduced on a field trail basis in five cities for their geographical and climatic diversity in the second half of 2014, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. These cities are Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Shimla and Bhubaneswar.

Plastic notes have an average life span of about five years and are difficult to imitate. Also, currency notes made of plastic are cleaner than paper notes.

Plastic notes were first introduced in Australia to safeguard against counterfeiting of currency. Several countries in the West have introduced plastic notes for its advantage over normal notes.